That the article repeats verbatim such a quote from Microsoft's presentation without even a slight nod to the gross self-aggrandization clued me to the fact that the whole piece is yet another corporate advertisement disguised as news.
I mean, in addition to the whole story starting with an emergency meeting on mid 2007 about the need to "reimagine a new direction for the Xbox" yet failing to point out it was all due to the runaway success of the Wii. It actually sticks out like a sore thumb to see these VPs panicking about something that the article refuses to acknowledge exists.
Japan has many 2ndary schools, but any Japanese person will tell you that only 3 count; Tokyo, Todai, and a third whose name escapes me. If you are a Japanese citizen of means and you can't get your child into one of those three, that's when you consider sending your child to Harvard, Yale, Oxford, etc.
I have a Master's Degree from Tokyo University and the bullshit-per-word quotient of this post is staggering. First, you refer to universities as "2ndary schools". Second, "Todai" means "TOkyo DAIgaku" = "Tokyo University". Third, while Tokyo U is regarded as #1 unquestionably, there are at least 4 other universities on the top tier, namely Kyoto U, Waseda, Keio and Tohoku, and probably a couple more. Fourth, to get into these universities you really have to be an excellent student: your parents being "citizens of means" (whatever that is) has no bearing on the equation. Finally, in Japan only the educational elite goes overseas: if you could get into, say, Yale, it means you could have gone to a top school in Japan as well.
Also, you can't "get a teenager" into anything. The best you can do is show him the door; he has to walk through it. Do this badly, and you'll turn him off something he could have been genuinely interested in by himself in a couple years.
Finally, you should get the kid's parents a copy of Marc Prensky's "Don't bother me Mom, I'm learning!" so they know gaming is not the complete waste of time they assume it is.
Because the man can do the same exercises without the Wii, without the game.
Wii Fit is like a cheap personal trainer/motivator.
The same thing can be accomplished by handing the man a pamphlet, except Wii Fit motivates better.
Not true. First, the balance board gives you advice on your balance and posture while you do the exercises. Second, the level of instruction would be comparable, if anything, to an interactive and customizable video, not a pamphlet. Third, the game provides immediate tracking and feedback, which are instrumental for learning new skills and routines. You may call the last point "extra motivation", but that's like not giving someone a calculator because they can do math by hand.
c) remove the Other OS, update and only use it for playing. Revenue stream continues for Sony (on new games) - but at the cost of goodwill to the company.
I don't see any decent outcome for Sony on either of the three options...
Sony is clearly aiming for this option. There is no loss of goodwill because 99.9% of customers don't care about the Other OS.
"Money is the root of all money." -- the moving finger
